Paul Gideon, a 20-year veteran of the U.S, Fish and Wildlife Service, is the new Refuge Manager at Southeast Regional Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
For more than 12 years, Gideon has served as the Deputy Refuge Manager of White River National Wildlife Refuge in St. Charles, Arkansas. He helped make many improvements to the refuge including replacing six bridges and replacing more than a million dollars worth of gravel on 75 miles of refuge roads. He spearheaded a pest control program that removed up to 1,000 beavers annually, and oversaw the refuge's law enforcement program. During his tenure, several major water control structures were replaced and a 10,000 square-foot-office and visitor contact station was built. He also assisted on the construction of two parking lots, an observation deck, two boardwalks, and three nature trails.
During his U.S. Fish and Wildlife career, Gideon has also served as Assistant manager at Cache River National Wildlife Refuge in Augusta Arkansas, Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuge in Turrell, Arkansas, and at Choctaw National Wildlife Refuge in Jackson, Alabama. He has also been a bio-tech at Blackbeard National Wildlife Refuge near Darien, Georgia."I hope to be able to restore Pond Creek's habitat back to its natural bottomland mixed-hardwood ecosystem," said Gideon. "I have also been impressed with the positive greetings from the community to my family and me.?
He says that a high priority over the next few years will be focused on re-establishing native mixed species hardwoods on the thousands of acres of pine plantationsestablished by former landowners of the area.
Gideon holds a bachelor's degreein Fish and Wildlife Management from Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, Arkansas. He and his wife Betty have three children, Rachel, age 14, Matthew age 13, and Rebecca, age 11. Gideon enjoys hunting and fishing. He is active in church work and is also involved with Gideons International.
Established in 1994, Pond Creek National Wildlife Refuge is 27,300 acres of mostly bottomland hardwoods. It provides breeding and nesting habitat for wood ducks and other migratory waterfowl such as mallards, gadwall, and American wigeon. The refuge also hosts wintering bald eagles and is home to American alligators, bobcats, red and gray foxes and wild turkeys. Herons and egrets nest at the refuge. More than 12,000 visitors annually enjoy hunting, fishing and wildlife observation opportunities at the refuge.
